Id Follow You Anywhere
by svuFan9613
Summary: It had been a year. A year since he shot Jenna. A year since he left, and a year since he talked to her. Elliot was gone. She tried to call, only to find out his number was shut off. He left with no trace. They wanted her to pack up his desk. But she wouldn't, she needed some way of knowing that a part of him was still here. That he would still come back for her. E/O Romance R&R
1. Chapter 1

It was October 1st, the warm autumn air was blowing in New York. People were out walking in central park, on the streets, going shopping or working. The last one was for Olivia Benson, the best detective in the Special Victims Unit of Manhattan. She got out of her car and slammed the door. She made her way up to the 16th precinct steps.

Olivia hasn't been the same since Jenna. Jenna. Every time she heard that name, or thought about him, it hurt her. It cut threw her like a sword. How could he leave her? How could he just go without saying good bye?

Olivia gets inside the bull pen and sits at her desk. Every time she looked across from her, she expected him to be sitting right there. She wanted him to be there with her. She wanted him to tell her it was all a bad dream.

"Liv." Fin said walking over to her desk. To him she looked worse than ever. She had lost weight and her complexion was pale. Even for her, she was always had that healthy glow. Her eyes looked muddy, dark circles like she hadn't slept in months, her eyes lost their usual chocolate brown, and she was weak. Olivia Benson weak. That is something he would never hear anyone say, even himself.

The other week, Olivia needed help picking up a perp, who was her size, well her size on a good day. Fin had to guess she was 110-120 pounds now. Normally she could pick up someone at around 200 pounds. This man was 130 pounds.

"Olivia." Fin said again, but she didn't look up from her hands. "Hey why don't you head home." Fin said grabbing her coat for her.

"I'm fine." She whispered. She didn't take her eyes off the computer screen as she slowly typed up her DD5's.

"You sure?" Fin asked.

"Yeah." She said putting on a fake smile.

Fin left Olivia alone for the rest of the day. No new cases came in today, so they basically sat and caught up on paperwork. Fin and Munch were arguing over some conspiracy theory about JFK 's assassination being linked to Abraham Lincoln's.

"Liv why don't you head out." Munch said, looking at the clock which said 5:50.

Olivia just nodded, grabbed her coat and shut down her computer. She was leaving the precinct and someone bumped into her. She didn't bother saying sorry, she just continued walking away.

The man Olivia bumped into, walked into the bull pen like he owned the place. He saw Munch and Fin arguing over conspiracy theories. He saw Cragen locking up his office, and Huangs light still on in his.

Fin noticed the extra person in the room, the man however had his hood up and he was looking at the ground so his face couldn't be identified easily.

"Hi, can I help you?" Fin asked walking over to the man with the two other men in the squadroom following him.

"Is Olivia Benson here?" The man asked.

"No, may I ask who is looking for her." Cragen butted in.

The man looked up and took down his hood. Cragen, Munch and Fin's reactions were all the same. They gasped, they couldn't believe that Elliot Stabler was standing right in front of them after a year.

"Where's Liv?" Elliot asked.

Fin ran up to him and Cragen and Munch held him back. "I should kick your ass for leaving her! Do you realize what happened to her? She fell apart, Elliot. She was so depressed." Fin yelled. "I will kill you Stabler before I let her get close to you again."

"What do you mean?" Elliot asked.

"She has dark circles under her eyes, pale as hell, she is skinny, maybe 100-120 pounds, and thats pushing it. She was walking out when you came in." Munch said letting go of Fin.

Elliot was shocked he couldn't believe that the woman he saw walking in the precinct was her. That woman was tiny, fragile, weak looking. Nothing like the Olivia like he knew. "Shit, she looked so weak." Elliot stumbled.

"Guys I have to find her." Elliot said. "I have to see I care about her."

"If you cared soo much El." Fin started, taunting him with his old nickname. " Why'd you leave in the first place? If you really cared, you wouldn't come back into her life, she is doing fine." Fin eyed him down. Him and Fin always used to butt heads but this was different. They both cared about Olivia in a different way.

It was like Fin was Olivia's older brother, and Elliot was the boy who could cause trouble, make the girl do crazy things and was the kid that the brother didn't like. So Fin thinks it's his job make sure that he scares Elliot away.

"Fin is right Elliot. You can't just walk back into her life. She- She's with Brian. She is finally starting to get back to normal." Cragen explained. Fin had a smug grin on his face showing he was proud.

"Shes with Cassidy?" Elliot asked completely dumbfounded.

"Yeah." Munch said. "Why don't you stay at my place for tonight, and tomorrow you can come see her."

"No I think Elliot should stay here. You can sleep in cribs." Cragen said, "But come back here after you find food. We need to talk about somethings."

Elliot nodded and followed Munch out of the bullpen to find some food. He walked into a little bistro where him and Olivia used to eat at all the time. He walked up to the counter and ran into someone again. Jeez he thought.

"Oops I'm sorry." The man said.

"Cassidy." Elliot said as the man looked at Elliot.

"Elliot." Brian couldn't believe that he was here. That he was alive. He hadn't seen Elliot in over a decade.

"How are you man?" Elliot asked.

"Going to Liv's. We have-" Brian said.

"I know, you guys are together." Elliot said looking down. His heart was broken, he loved her.

"Yeah. Hey, it was good to see you." Cassidy said holding out his hand, and Elliot took a hold of it, shaking it.

"Yeah it was good." Elliot smiled. Elliot started walking away but Cassidy caught his attention again.

"Does she know? That your back?" Brian asked. Worry filled his eyes, he knew that Elliot had feelings for her and that as soon as he was back he would lose Olivia.

"No." Elliot walked away. Brian hurried out of the bistro and to his car. He drove to Olivia's apartment.

Brian knew what he had to do. He knew he had lost the battle as soon as he saw Elliot's face. She would find out that he was back.

"Hey." Brian said as he opened the door and walked inside.

"Hi." Olivia smiled and tried to kiss him, but he pulled away. She gave him a confused look. "What's wrong Bri?"

"Liv, I talked to someone I haven't seen in forever tonight. Our conversation made me rethink our relationship. I think we need time..." Brian whispered.

Olivia had tears streaming down her face. He ran into someone who was better than her. Could love him and give him everything he needed. "I'm sorry." He whispered and kissed her forehead. He grabbed his coat and went out the door.

Olivia walked slowly over to her to her couch. She had lost him, first Elliot, now him. The only men who ever gave a damn about her, left. I pushed them away, she thought. I can't be loved.

She needed to get out of her apartment. She put on sweats and a pair of sneakers. She got into her car and drove to the precinct. The drive was short, but her mind was flooded with all these thoughts.

"Don, I want to come back." Elliot said as his former captain sat across from him.

"Elliot." Don looked up at him. " I would love for you to come back, but what about Benson? I mean you saw how Fin acted today when he saw you. Imagine if I just gave you your job back."

"Please. I went through a rough time. Kathy left me and moved with her boyfriend to North Dakota. I see the kids 2 times a year. Dammit Don, Eli isn't even mine. I promise you, I will not leave Olivia again! She is everything to me, I care about her. She was all I had left and I threw that away." Elliot put his face in his hands.

"I threw it away." Elliot started getting tears in his eyes and shook his head, " I thought we were getting closer, I was going to ask her to dinner that night. I was going to take her to her doorstep and kiss her. Tell her how I have felt for these past 15 years. After the divorce we hung out every day. Either I went to her house, she came to mine, we were the closest we have ever been. We- we sat there and had take out and watched cheesy movies, but you know, I never watched the movies, I just sat there and looked at her. I miss that. I miss her." Elliot was crying.

She pulled up to the bullpen and noticed that lights were on. She got out of her car and walked into the bullpen.

She took notice that the Captains light was on and him and someone else were talking. She waited outside his door and heard talking.

Cragen looked surprised but then his expression settled realizing that it was only a matter of time until it happened. "Elliot, I will talk to IAB, and then you have to go through an evaluation by Huang."

"I will do whatever it takes to be with her again-" Elliot said, and was about to continue but someone barged into the door.

Olivia stood in the doorway, her face was red from tear stains and she looked rough. She looked at Elliot Stabler, the man she hasn't seen in year stand right in front of her.


	2. Chapter 2

Olivia stood in the doorway as she sees the man who she was hopelessly in love with for the past 12 years.

"Liv." Elliot said her nickname. Did he expect her to walk in there like nothing happened?

She just stared at him. She was either pissed or shocked, Elliot couldn't tell. "Don't call me that. You lost that right the day you walked out on me and didn't even bother to call. Elliot, I called you for days, weeks, finally after 4 months I gave up. One day I called you, the next your phone number was changed. You didn't want anything to do with me."

"I wanted to. I was going through a rough time. I finally got myself together, and I needed to come back. Li-Olivia. Please forgive me." He pleaded. She saw how much he wanted to come back in his deep blue eyes.

She tried to tell herself that she needed to be mad at him. Olivia had tears in her eyes. "What do you expect? You think you can come back here and have me run into your arms and tell you everything is okay? I have news Stabler, I was perfectly fine without you. I was in a great relationship with Brian, I was finally getting back to normal. I am finally recovering from Lewis. He's in prison and I feel safe." She whispers. "I can finally sleep at night, not having to worry if he is going to be hovering over me when I wake up."

"Please, don't say that. I need you. I thought about you everyday, all day. I wrote you hundreds of emails, thousands of texts, dialed your number, but never pressed send. I just never had the balls to send them. Every night I prayed that somehow I would get led back to you. That I would be able to see those beautiful brown eyes one more time. Even if you hate me, I still have to know you're okay." He looked her in the eyes, he had tears in them himself.

"Olivia, I need you in my life. When I was gone, I was in such a dark place." Elliot whispered tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "I got help. Thats why I couldn't call. My therapist said it would be best if I did my full treatment before contacting you. But you have to believe that I wanted to be with you every second of every day. You're all I thought about. Not Kathy, sure my kids, but you Liv."

"El, I'm l so sorry.." Olivia said with tears in her eyes. She hugged Elliot. For the second time since she knew him, she allowed this simple thing happen. A hug, people give hugs all the time. It was different for them. The one other time when she saved Kathy and his youngest son, Eli after they were in a car accident on the way to her doctors appointment.

Cragen nodded at Elliot showing that he was heading out for the night. Elliot just held Olivia as he left. They stood there holding each other for a while, it felt like forever, but neither of them minded because they liked it.

He held her close, and thought about how she could change his life. "El. Who knows you're back?" Olivia asked as they pulled away and wiped away her tears.

"Just you, Cragen, Cassidy, and the guys. Cassidy didn't he tell you? I just saw him about an hour ago when he was picking up food." Elliot said confused.

"No? Uh we broke up." Olivia looked at the ground, trying to hold back her tears. " He came home and said he saw someone that he hasn't seen if over a decade and it made him rethink our relationship."

"Liv, I'm so sorry." Elliot said. "I saw him there, and he just was happy. He was excited to get home to you..."

"He's gone. I managed to chase him away too. When you were gone, he came back into my life. He was there for me when I needed him most. I chased him away, I know how too. I'm not lovable, I can't love anyone. I am so broken and beat down El. I am turning into my mother. I was almost... raped."

"Liv, stop talking like that. You are nothing like her. Brian is an idiot for leaving you, but I don't think he left for the reason that you're thinking he did." Elliot said putting the pieces together.

"What'd you mean?" Olivia asked.

"He knew that when I came back, and you found out that you would be the same. You would dump him and we would be something." Elliot said.

"Elliot, I don't understand." Olivia said very confused. Did he say so they could be something? Was her best friend implying that one day, maybe they would be together?

"He probably thought that when I came back, we'd go back to being how we were, as close as we were." Elliot explains.

"Oh. Uh, d-do you wanna get out of here? I mean do you-you, shit, do you wanna hang out or something?" Olivia stumbles.

Elliot chuckles at her nervousness. "You should probably get home. It late. Almost 7:00."

"Trying to get rid of me already Stabler? Alright." Olivia smiles.

"I'm just kidding, but I have a question." Elliot asks. She nods her head and bites her lip waiting for him to ask. "How much of it did you hear?"

Olivia smiled at him. "Nothing really. Just that you wanted to come back." Olivia looked in his eyes, trying to read him.

"Oh thats good." Elliot smiled.

"Why?" Olivia asked with a smirk playing on her lips.

"No reason." Elliot smiled and they walked out of the precinct.

They went up to Olivia's apartment, Elliot had been in here so many times before. Why was this different? He just stood there while she heated up the food. "You want a beer?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah sounds good." Elliot said as he took in the living room, like he has for the past 12 years. "Liv your apartment looks the same as it did since the last time I was here."

"Well, I never liked change. So wanna tell me why you came back?" Olivia asked sitting next to him.

"Liv, Kathy left me. She left about 9 months ago, after I found out that Eli wasn't mine. Yeah he isn't mine. When I found out she was pregnant, I asked her if it was mine. She looked me in the eyes and told me it was. How could she lie to me like that? After she left she took the kids and went to live with her boyfriend in North Dakota. I bought an apartment on the Upper East Side about 4 blocks from here. After that all happened, I did my therapy sessions. " Elliot looked up at Olivia.

"You lived 4 blocks from me for the past 9 months? El!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Liv I know. I saw you a lot." Elliot said.

"That could be borderline stalker El." Olivia teased.

"I just had to know you're safe. I really care about you.." Elliot looked her in the eyes and smiled.

"I care about you too. Elliot, I just wanna tell you. It's going to take time for me to trust you like I did before." Olivia looked up at .

"I know it will. I'm willing to wait as long as it takes." Elliot said. I love you. He thought as she smiled up at him.

"What?" She asks.

"I am just thinking how lucky I am to have you with me right now. I never thought that you would be here with me. I thought I lost you forever." Elliot said.

"You'll never lose me." Olivia smiled. "How long,- how long were your sessions?"

"Monday-Friday, from 2-4. I would talk about you. Everything led back to you." Elliot said.

Olivia nodded her head, "So you seeing me, didn't help with your recovery."

"No, it made it easier. Just seeing you would make my day better, knowing you were okay." Elliot smiled.

Olivia smiled back at him. They sat in silence for a few minutes and Olivia spoke up, "I'm gonna go to bed." Olivia said. She started walking back to her room. She looked back at him and he was smiling at her. She loved him, she did. But what happens if he would leave again. She wouldn't be able to bear it.

"Night. I'll see you tomorrow." Elliot said walking towards the door.

Olivia ran to him and grabbed his arm. " Stay." She smiles.

Elliot raises an eyebrow. "Okay. I got couch." Elliot smiled as he grabbed the pillows and blankets from the hall closet.

Olivia nodded and went back into her room.

Elliot laid awake thinking about how much he had missed her. He knew it was going to take some time before she could trust him again.

_**15 reviews for the next chapter. Thanks for all the other reviews!**_


	3. Chapter 3

Olivia was stretched across her bed. Elliot had checked on her about an hour ago. He decided to slip out, and get something to make for breakfast. He thought it was the least he could do, since she put up with him.

Olivia walked out to the kitchen and she saw bacon, eggs, and toast on the countertop. She walks up and sits at the breakfast bar. "Morning." Elliot says as he hands her a plate.

"Morning. You definitely didn't find all this in my apartment. " Olivia chuckled pointing to the food.

Elliot chuckled and gave her a look. "No, I ran to the store down the street."

Olivia smiled at him. "Thanks."

"No problem." He smiled at her. "What are your plans for today?"

"Well, I have to work but I'm not catching tonight." Olivia said.

"Can I take you to lunch this afternoon?" Elliot asked showing his usual shit eating grin.

"I would like that a lot." Olivia smiled.

"Well I can drive you to work, because I have a meeting with Cragen and the 1PP today." Elliot said as he put the dishes in the sink.

"Sounds good. I am gonna take a quick shower." Olivia said.

"Okay. Mind if I hop in?" He asked, then realized how that sounded. "Uh- I mean like after you're done."

Olivia blushed and laughed. "Yeah."

Olivia hurried and got in the shower, and changed into her clothes. She was doing her hair when Elliot knocked on the door.

She let him in and went out of the bathroom so he could get in the shower. Elliot was in the shower washing his body. He thought about Olivia and how she looked in the shower, with the water dripping on her body, her perfect breasts-.

He shook his head, he shouldn't be thinking about her like that. She just started talking to him last night. Elliot hurried out of the shower and got dressed.

They both walked into the precinct like it was any normal day. Any outsider would think they haven't missed a single day together. Olivia walked over to her desk and sat down as Elliot went and stood next to her.

He was nervous, she knew that. "El, don't be scared."

"I'm just nervous." He said.

Olivia grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze, "You'll be fine." She smiled.

He smiled back at her, and he was called into Cragen's office. Olivia watched him walk back. He looked over his shoulder and gave her his smile before he disappeared behind the door.

Olivia sat at her desk and worked on paperwork as the precinct began to fill up.

Munch and Fin walked in together and noticed she was in a good mood.

"Who's talking to Cap?" Fin asked.

"El." Olivia said mindlessly.

Fin and Munch looked at her. " El as in Stabler? " Fin asked.

Olivia nodded her head. "Fin, I know you don't want him to come back."

"I'll deal with it. He's important to you, so I can tolerate it." He said. Olivia smiled at him, silently thanking him. " So I take it that you guys talked last night?"

"Yeah. We talked about a lot of stuff. I really missed him." Olivia said.

"Did you guys only talk?" Fin asked. He semi regretted asking, but he knew the circumstances of their relationship in the past. They loved each other, he knew it. Everyone knew it, except them.

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Olivia asked looking up at him shocked.

"Liv there have been rumors flying around the squadroom since before I was even a detective. Its fine if you guys did that-" Fin said.

"Hold on Fin! Elliot and I did not have sex. We just started talking again. Im not going to jump into bed with him!" Olivia said. She was lying. Of course she would sleep with him. She thought about it last night when she told him to stay.

"Okay. Calm down Liv. I was just asking." Fin smiled and walked over to his desk.

About an hour later, Elliot walked out of the office and into the squadroom. Olivia looked up at him and he gave her a smile.

He walked over to her desk and leaned against it. "Can I help you Stabler? "

He nodded and jutted his head towards the cribs. Olivia followed him upstairs.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"I'm coming back." Elliot smiled.

Olivia face lit up. "El, that's great. I'm so happy for you."

"Me too. I didn't realize how much I missed this place. Missed seeing you everyday." He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

Olivia blushed. "I missed you too." Elliot smiled at her and was about to say something but she cut it. "When do you start back?"

"Monday, partner." Elliot smiled at her.

"Partner?" Olivia asked surprised.

"They said because we were the best team that they've ever had it would be stupid not to have us together."

"I'm excited! I have my old partner back. " She smiled.

"So what's your favorite lunch spot?" Elliot asked. He had talked to Cragen about SVU policy. The part about relationships. He said that as long as their personal life stayed out of the squadroom they would be fine. Of course, he hadn't made a move yet. But he was planning on it. Soon.

"Hmm. I could go for a nice burger. Our usual?" Olivia asked as if they never stopped being partners.

"That sounds great. If I remember correctly you want a strawberry milkshake and I'll take a chocolate. But you always end up drinking some of mine. " He smiled.

"You know me so well." Olivia smiled.

"I should I've lo- been your best friend for 13 years. " Elliot smiled.

Olivia smiled . " So you ready for lunch?"

Elliot nodded and opened the door. Olivia felt a hand on they small off her back. They walked down the steps and into the squadroom.

Olivia walked over to her desk and grabbed her purse. "Hey guys, we're going to head out to lunch."

"Okay see you guys later." Munch said.

Olivia walked into Cragens office to let him know that they were going to go get some lunch. "Hey Cap me and El are going to get a bite to eat. Want anything?"

"No thanks. But take the rest of the day off and the weekend. See you Monday Benson and Stabler" Cragen smiled.

"Thanks Don." Olivia smiled at they left.

They walked into the small diner and got 'their table'. Ever since they were partners they have came here and ate.

The waitress walked up to their table. "Hey guys I'm Tammie." She noticed it was Olivia and Elliot. " Haven't seen you in here for a while." She smiled.

They smiled at each other. "Uh I'll take a chocolate milkshake and she'll have a strawberry. Then two burgers with fries please. But on hers she wants extra pickles no tomato and no onions." Elliot said as he handed her the menus.

"Alright. I'll get your drinks for you." She said and walked off.

Elliot looked at Olivia. She was studying the people passing by as she looked through the window. "You haven't eaten here since I've been gone." Elliot said. It wasn't a question, it was a fact.

Olivia looked up at him. "Yeah. It was our thing you know?" Olivia said pulling her bottom lip in between her teeth.

"Yeah. I haven't had King Lings Chinese since the last time we ate there together." Elliot said.

"Well." Olivia smiled at him. "Why don't we do that and watch a couple of movies at my place tonight?"

Elliot smiled right back at her. "I would love that."

"Me too." She said looking down.

Elliot watched her as she played with her watch. He realized that he shouldn't tell her tonight. He just was welcomed back, and if she doesn't feel the same he can't deal with it. He was going to make sure she loved him.


End file.
